Sirius Black III
Sirius Orion Black III (3 Nov 1959 - 18 Jun 1996) was an English pure-blood wizard, the older son of Orion and Walburga Black, and the brother of Regulus Black. Although he was the heir of the House of Black, Sirius disagreed with his family's belief in blood purity and defied tradition when he was Sorted into Gryffindor House instead of Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which he attended from 1971-1978. As the rest of his family had been in Slytherin, he was the odd one out. Biography Early life (1959-1970s) Sirius Black was born on 3 November, 1959, in the Islington bourough of London, England, to Orion Black and Walburga Black, both of whom were Dark Wizardsand second cousins. He was the last remaining heir of the House of Black, a once-notable pure-blood wizarding family. Sirius had a younger brother, Regulus, who died after turning against Lord Voldemort in 1979 by attempting to destroy his Horcruxes; he was killed by the Inferi guarding one of his Horcruxes (although Sirius did not know this). Sirius did not share a close relationship with his brother, calling him "a better son" than himself. "Sirius" is a traditional Black family name, recurring in at least three generations and following a family tradition of naming children after stars, constellations, and galaxies. The names Cygnus, Arcturus, and Regulus have also occurred at least twice each. Notably, however, only one Sirius (the subject's great-grandfather) left a line of descent, which ended with the youngest Sirius, as he did not have children. The Black family believed strongly in pure-blood elitism. They refused to consort with Muggles or Muggle-borns, Squibs and blood traitors and even disowned Squib family members, such as Sirius' great-uncle Marius Black, and insisted that their family members only marry within respectable pure-blood classes; because of these beliefs, they were forced to marry their own cousins. They also held the Dark Arts in reverence. Sirius rejected these values, leading to conflict with his family. He even put permanent-sticking charms of Gryffindor banners, as well as pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis, and motorcycles, and a picture of himself and his Gryffindor friends on the walls of his room to emphasise his differences from the family and annoy his parents. When his cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa made the desirable pure-blood marriages, to Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoyrespectively, Sirius held them in contempt. His favourite cousin, Andromeda, was disowned by the family as a "blood traitor" when she married Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard. Sirius would later share this designation and was held in contempt, even hatred, by some members of his family. However, in his later life, Sirius established friendships with his estranged younger sister, Aquila, his first cousin once removed, Nymphadora Tonks, as well as his godson Harry Potter (whom he loved as a son), Aquila's best friend Ginny Weasley (his third cousin), Harry's best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, (another third cousin) and his distant cousins in the Weasley family. He was distantly related to Arthur. He was sorted into Gryffindor House at Hogwarts and was known as the "Black Sheep" of the family. Sirius continued to be at odds with his parents throughout his youth. He met three great friends at Hogwarts- James Potter, his second cousin once removed, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Together, they were collectively referred to as the Marauders. Sirius became an animagus in his fifth year of schooling in order to support his friend, Remus Lupin, who was a werewolf, along with James and Peter. Sirius took the form of a Grim. In their sixth year, the Marauders, with the collective brilliance of Sirius and James, developed a map that showed anyone on Hogwarts grounds. Sirius was extremely skilled in all subjects of magic, but most particularly in Transfiguration and Potions. His younger brother, Regulus, was a haemophiliac and Sirius grew up exposed to his Uncle Alphard, who was a potioneer and had done extensive research into the disease. Sirius became interested in Potions but didn't quite like his teacher, Slughorn, from the first few years of his classes. He turned to focus on Transfiguration instead, as it was incredibly fascinating. He graduated Hogwarts with twelve N.E.W.T.s and twelve O.W.L.s, having taken every academic class Hogwarts had to offer. At first, it was to make his parents proud, and when Orion and Walburga failed to recognise his achievement, his studies became more of a self-expectation for himself. Sirius held himself to a very high regard and refused to let himself fail. He wanted to truly make something of himself. Tensions with his parents reached an all-time high during his fifth year at school. In the summer of 1976, Sirius ran away from home at the age of sixteen. He made it to the Potters' house and Charlus and Dorea treated him like a second son. His mother, Walburga, had struck him off the family tree when he did so, and the rest of his family were forbidden to talk to him, including his brother, Regulus, and cousins, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa. Hogwarts years (1971-1977) Sirius had an unhappy childhood; by adolescence he had come to hate most of his relatives, in particular his mother, Walburga and his cousin Bellatrix Black. Whereas all other members of the Black family were Sorted into Slytherin, Sirius was placed in Gryffindor during his Sorting in 1971, showing that his views had already diverged from those of the rest of the family before he came to school. Sirius also took great care in hanging Gryffindor banners all over his room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place to show his difference from the rest of the family. Aside from the shrine to Godric Gryffindor, Sirius did the rest of his room akin to a Muggle boy of his age. He put up pictures of motorcycles and fighter jets, as well as posters of bathing beauties. Honouring Muggle accomplishments annoyed his family, but none so much as angering his mother that Sirius considered Muggle women attractive. By contrast he greatly enjoyed life at Hogwarts, where he was inseparable from his best friends: James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They later discovered that Remus was a werewolf. To support him, Sirius, James, and Peter secretly — and illegally — became Animagi. This allowed them to safely accompany Remus during his transformations and keep him under control. Sirius' form took the shape of a huge black dog (not unlike the Grim), from which his nickname "Padfoot" was derived. James would become a stag (Prongs) and Peter would become a rat (Wormtail). The four friends called themselves "the Marauders" and used the nicknames "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs". Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail came from their three Animagus forms and Moony after his lycanthropic condition. They also created the Marauders Map, which allowed them to see where everyone in the castle was at a given time which made sneaking around and avoiding teachers much easier. Although he later considered himself "an idiot" during this time, Sirius, along with James were immensely popular. Teachers respected his intelligence (though not his behaviour) and girls adored his dark handsome looks. His especially rebellious attitude made him ignore them, therefore making girls fawn over his bad boy attitude, as well as his looks. Many teachers regarded him and James as troublemakers or practical jokers. Hagrid once compared them to the mischievous twins Fred and George Weasley, saying that the Weasleys could "give them a run for their money". '' Sirius' popularity was not universal, however. A mutual hatred sprang up between James Potter and Severus Snape. Sirius actively supported James, leading to Snape bestowing an equal and life-long grudge upon Sirius. This grudge resulted in Snape's happiness after Sirius' death. Sirius later claimed Snape was "this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts", from Snape's first moments at Hogwarts. He was one of the many people who hated Snape. Sirius and James often went out of their way to bully Snape. While watching one of Snape’s memories in the Pensieve, Harry saw Sirius and James physically bully him simply out of boredom. Sirius attempted to justify this by pointing out that he and James were only 15 at the time, to which Harry hotly replied, "I'm 15!". Though Sirius did admit that he and James were "arrogant little berks" and that he was not proud of his behaviour, but had done nothing to rectify it. He and James eventually ended their campaign of ill treatment towards Snape, but they apparently never apologised. The only time James ever stopped was in front of Lily Evans a pretty red-head, whom James later married straight out Hogwarts. At age sixteen, Sirius finally broke away from his family and took refuge with James Potter and his parents. Fleamontand Euphemia Potter generously adopted Sirius as a son. His outraged mother blasted his name off the family tree, as was the tradition for those who did not support the family's supremacist ideology. Sirius' Uncle Alphard, Walburga's brother, sympathised with his young nephew and left him a large inheritance, most likely causing Walburga to blast Alphard's name off, as well. Sirius was left financially independent by his uncle’s generous bequest, and eventually got a place of his own. Death of his uncle (1977) In August of 1977, he received a letter from his Uncle Alphard, who was in hospital for treatment for more internal bleeding. When Sirius arrived to say goodbye, his younger brother was already in the room. Alphard encouraged the boys to reconvene and not let their parents control whether they were allowed to speak to each other. Alphard died the night of the 28th of August, and he left Sirius quite a bit of gold. Walburga struck Alphard off the family tree for the deed. First Wizarding War (1970s-1981) : '''Sirius': "What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard that ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!" : Peter Pettigrew: "You don’t understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!" : Sirius: "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" : — Sirius confronting Peter in regards to his betrayal After leaving school, Sirius fought against Lord Voldemort, eventually joining the Order of the Phoenix. Around 1977, he and James were involved in a motorbike chase with two policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned slightly more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks. Sirius and James used their wands to raise the police car that had been chasing them, and their attackers crashed into it. It is unknown whether they got into trouble with the Ministry of Magic. Sometime February or March 1979, Sirius' brother died. Regulus' death was caused when he drank the Drink of Despair while trying to destroy one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, and when he tried to get water to quench his thirst, he was dragged to his death by the Inferi, although Sirius never learned the details of his death. He remained the best of friends with James and attended James' wedding to Lily Evans as best man. When their son Harry was born, James and Lily named Sirius godfather, thus designating him as Harry's guardian in the event of their deaths. He also gave Harry his first broom at the age of one as a birthday present, as stated by Lily in a letter found by Harry a number of years later. After joining the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius found himself roiling with mistrust and stress due to the great terror that was Lord Voldemort. It took its toll — by October 1981, he no longer trusted his old friend Remus Lupin, suspecting he was a spy and excluding him from important information. However, he trusted Peter Pettigrew implicitly, a decision he would grow to regret for the rest of his life. In 1981, the Potters were aware that Harry, along with the son of fellow Order members Alice and Frank Longbottom, had become Lord Voldemort's specific targets. Albus Dumbledore advised the Potters to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm, which Dumbledore hoped would conceal them from doom. James was adamant about Sirius being their Secret-Keeper, believing that Sirius would willingly die rather than reveal where they were. However, believing Voldemort would suspect him, Sirius suggested Peter Pettigrew as a less obvious choice. Keeping everyone else, including Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore, in the dark, Sirius and the Potters reassigned Pettigrew to be Secret-Keeper with Sirius as a decoy. Between the wars (1981-1993) On Hallowe'en night 1981, Sirius went to Pettigrew’s hiding place and found him missing. Unsettled by the lack of signs of a struggle, Sirius frantically sped to Godric's Hollow, discovering the Potters' house destroyed and his friends dead; only baby Harry was still alive. When Rubeus Hagrid appeared on the scene to take Harry from him on Dumbledore's orders, Sirius offered to take Harry himself as he was the chosen guardian in the events of James and Lily's death. However, Hagrid told him that Dumbledore had made arrangements to send Harry to Lily's sister, Petunia. Sirius conceded after an argument and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle, telling him he wouldn't need it; nevertheless, after Hagrid had handed over the baby, he intended to return Black his bike, but never got the chance. After leaving Godric's Hollow, Sirius, overcome with grief and rage, tracked Pettigrew down, determined to kill him in vengeance. However, Pettigrew outwitted Black: confronted by Sirius on a city street, he shouted out that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, and then created a huge explosion on the street with a powerful Blasting Curse, killing twelve Muggles in the process and enabling him to fake his own death and escape in his Animagus form, leaving a severed finger behind as evidence. The surviving Muggles who witnessed the event were pretty certain they saw Sirius murder their twelve companions and Pettigrew with the curse, and Fudge claimed to have seen Sirius laughing maniacally at the scene of the crime, suggesting that he thought Peter accidentally killed himself, and found joy from that. Sirius was arrested by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and sentenced by Barty Crouch Snr to life imprisonment in Azkaban without a trial for thirteen counts of murder with the Blasting Curse, giving the information about the Potters' whereabouts which lead to their death and service to Lord Voldemort. The surviving Muggles were Obliviated and given an excuse by the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee that a gas-leak occurred before they could remember who really cast the Blasting Curse. Pettigrew was unjustly awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class for his confrontation with Sirius, which, along with the finger that they recovered, were "posthumously" given to his mother. As the time passed, due to misconceptions, many believed that Black drew his wand and killed Pettigrew before the other had a chance of even drawing. Even the other remaining Marauder, Remus, believed it was Sirius who betrayed their brotherhood. Marked as Prisoner ᛈᛉ-390, Sirius was placed in solitary confinement at the mercy of the Azkaban guards, the Dementors. Driven to the brink of madness, he retained his sanity by focusing on his innocence, which he said in the Shrieking Shack was "more an obsession than a happy thought"; it could not be detected by the Dementors, but still allowed him to maintain a sense of self and regain enough strength to transform into his Animagus form in his cell. Since Dementors have difficulty sensing the less complex emotions of animals, he was able to remain relatively unaffected as a dog. It was not at all trouble to them, though, since they thought it meant he was losing his mind like every other convict in their custody, including Bellatrix and some of her fellow Death Eaters. However, his brooding over his friends' deaths and Pettigrew's betrayal became an obsession as well. This was due to hearing many different theories regarding why Harry survived Voldemort's attack being made by the confined Death Eaters, the most persistent of which indicating that they believed Pettigrew to have betrayed them since the Dark Lord met his downfall on Peter's information. This most likely meant that Pettigrew went into hiding as a rat in hopes of avoiding the half of Voldemort's followers who avoided imprisonment, afraid that they will be motivated to kill him if his continuing existence became known, if not return to their master. Sirius waited until any sources reached within the prison walls leading to the discovery that Pettigrew was staying with a wizarding family as a rat to keep up on current news about Voldemort, all while getting very weak with no hope of driving the Dementors back without his wand, which was taken from him and stored away under Ministry of Magic safety repercussions. Escape from Azkaban (1993) In 1993, Sirius became the first known person ever to escape from Azkaban. After receiving an issue of the Daily Prophet from Cornelius Fudge during an inspection, he discovered that Pettigrew was indeed hiding in his Animagus form as Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers. Filled with the desire for revenge and concern for Harry, Sirius took his Animagus form and (thinned from undernourishment) was able to slip through the bars of his cell and past the Dementors. He swam across the North Sea back to the mainland and to freedom. First he made his way to Little Whinging to catch a glimpse of his godson as a teenager, where his Animagus appearance startled Harry before the Knight Bus turned up. News of his escape caused an unprecedented panic, as he was the first escapee of the notorious prison, and that many people believing that he planned to murder Harry in a mad attempt to bring Lord Voldemort back. Witch Watchers that operate as a special Ministry force were used as a means of trying to catch him, but to no avail. The Muggle authorities were warned that Black was dangerous. Sirius took refuge around Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest, where he was spotted a few times and mistaken by Harry for the Grim. He made the acquaintance of Hermione Granger's cat Crookshanks, who had recognised that Sirius was not actually a dog, and who had also recognised Peter for what he was. Crookshanks attempted to bring Peter to Sirius, but Ron was very protective of his so-called pet. Sirius also spent some of his time in the Shrieking Shack planning various ways in which to catch Pettigrew. Half-crazed and desperate, Sirius sneaked into Hogwarts through the old passageway from the Shrieking Shack and on one occasion slashed the Fat Lady's portrait when she refused him entrance to Gryffindor Tower on 31 October, 1993. Later, he came to view the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. During the match he witnessed Harry's excellent flying skills, which he later commented mirrored James' skills. Eventually, he was able to enter the Gryffindor common room. He accomplished this with a list of passwords Crookshanks had stolen from Neville Longbottom and shredded Ron’s bed curtains in his search for "Scabbers". Peter was nowhere to be found since Sirius' escape had prompted him to once again fake his own death and hide. Physical Appearance Sirius was a tall, well-built, darkly handsome man with fair skin, medium, lustrous black hair, which sometimes appeared light in the sun, striking grey eyes, and an air of "casual elegance". This vestige of aristocratic beauty is apparently an attribute passed down through the Black Family. When Harry entered into Snape's memory, he saw a fifteen-year-old Sirius finishing his exams while being ogled by a girl who sat a few rows behind him, due to his considerable good looks and casual yet elegant attitude. Unfortunately, Sirius' handsomeness - much like his imprisoned cousin, Bellatrix - suffered due to the depression and maltreatment he underwent during the twelve years he spent in Azkaban. As a result, Sirius had prematurely aged beyond that of a man in his thirties. He had a gaunt, sunken face, waxy skin, yellow teeth, and long, matted hair. Harry thought he looked as a corpse might. By November, after his escape, he visited Harry in the Common Room fireplace, and he was described as having short, clean hair and a fuller, younger face, though his physical appearance had yet to fully recover from his imprisonment. Unfortunately, by the next spring, his condition deteriorated, and he reverted back to a state that was only slightly better than that which he had been in a year ago: unshaven, with a faint scent of stale drink around him, and he did not bother to change his clothes at night (presumably a result of his "imprisonment" at the home he utterly despised and his conviction of his apparent uselessness). He was also branded with a series of tattoos over the chest and arms. Death, however, served to restore him to the peak of his good looks and vitality — his spirit was described as "tall and handsome, and younger by far than Harry had ever seen him in life. He loped with an easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face". Personality and traits Sirius was true to the ideal of a Gryffindor student. He was true-hearted and brave, as shown by his participation in both wars and willingness to die for those he loved. He was particularly loyal to his best friend, James Potter, a fellow Gryffindor. In his youth, he was a witty and talented wizard, but also quite an arrogant and mischievous troublemaker. He bullied and humiliated those he particularly disliked, namely Severus Snape. He was vicious towards those he hated, sometimes unjustifiably — deliberately sending the teenage Snape off to the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin was a full-fledged werewolf, while knowing that it could be fatal for Severus. He, along with James, were acknowledged to be some of the most brilliant students Hogwarts had ever seen, as proven by their ability to become Animagi as underage wizards and by the creation of the Marauders' Map. As an adult, Sirius was shown to be capable of an explosive temper when angered, a trait shared by his mother, Walburga Black, and his mad cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. His years in Azkaban contributed dramatically, which was especially evident during 1993 and 1994: trying persistently to capture Peter Pettigrew, going to lengths that even Dumbledore commented as not those of an innocent right-thinking man. Later on, he occasionally demonstrated himself to be reckless, immature, and even downright irresponsible. In several instances, he risked getting caught by the Ministry because he felt stir-crazy in his house, and advised Aquila and Harry to take rash actions. Much of this can likely be attributed to the vast amount of time spent in jail, which stunted his emotional development and making him especially eager to spend time with and protect his loved ones. However, through it all, Sirius had good intentions. For all his wrath and vengeance toward Pettigrew, he was capable of respecting Harry's request to not murder the man he escaped Azkaban to kill; opting instead to expose Pettigrew (a plan that unfortunately failed, with catastrophic results). He also seemed to have possessed a superb mental control that contrasted sharply with his passionate and impulsive nature. The fact that he was able to completely resist the psychological effects of the Dementors for so many years suggests that he had an unusually strong sense of self, and therefore was capable of withstanding long periods of emotional torture and despair. Besides all this, Sirius seems to have some traits related to his Animagus form of a dog. Such examples are when James Potter points out Snape, and Sirius is described as "perfectly still like a dog smelling a rabbit." The most referenced of these traits is his "bark-like laugh." as it is described nearly every time it is heard. Sirius' other dog-like traits include his need to protect his loved ones, his selfless nature, great sense of loyalty, and his need to be part of something bigger than himself, such as when he helped to plant the seeds of Dumbledore's Army and encouraged and enabled Harry and Aquila to further the movement against Umbridge's increasingly totalitarian hold over Hogwarts. His territorial protectiveness over the places and people he cared for were always evident, given how he stayed in his dog form for Harry after his encounter and duel against the newly resurrected Voldemort in Little Hangleton, comforting his godson in plain view of many people, including Cornelius Fudge, who still thought he was a criminal, at great personal risk to himself. Magical abilities and skills Sirius was described as a powerful wizard by his former teacher, McGonagall. Remus also once stated that he had been one of the cleverest Hogwarts students of his time. * Animagus: Sirius was able to become an Animagus in his fifth year, assuming the shape of a large black dog. Since he was an unregistered Animagus, he was able to take advantage of this ability to elude his Ministry captors. * Transfiguration: Sirius was incredibly talented in Transfiguration. In his fifth year, he was already skilled enough in Human Transfiguration to be successfully become an Animagus. Along with Remus Lupin, he easily performed Untransfiguration on Peter, forcing him out of his Animagus form. * Potions: In his fifth year, Sirius and James successfully brewed the Animagus Potion, a potion which is highly complex and time-consuming to brew, and with great consequences if done improperly. * Charms: Sirius was highly talented in charm-work from a young age. With his friends, he created the Marauder's Map during their teenage years, the complex manufacturing process of which involved the Homonculous Charmand a spell to insult those who attempted to read it, and both enchantments lasted long after all four of the producers' demises. He also placed Permanent Sticking Charms on the decorations in his room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place that were too strong for his parents to remove. He also used Charms to enchant his motorcycle to be able to fly and travel at unnaturally high speeds. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he cast an effective Shield Charm to protect Harry. Last but not least, Sirius was capable of producing a non-corporeal Patronus,1011 which is a highly advanced piece of protective magic, testifying to his exceptional proficiency in charms and superior magical ability as a wizard. * Non-verbal magic: Sirius was able to non-verbally perform Human Transfiguration and defensive magic (Disarming and Stunning spells). Since non-verbal magic is very difficult, this is testament to his power and skill as a wizard. * Healing magic: Sirius magically healed an injury from a biting snuffbox filled with wartcap powder seconds after he received it. He also tended to the injury Kreacher caused Buckbeak, apparently successfully. * Care of Magical Creatures: Sirius won the trust and loyalty of magical creatures easily. During his hunt for Wormtail, he managed to gain the trust of Crookshanks, a highly intelligent half-Kneazle cat. He also got along well with Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Sirius escaped with Buckbeak and took care of him for the next two years, feeding him and caring for his injuries successfully. * Critical Thinking: Sirius was able to deduce that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts with Harry when he saw a photograph of the Weasley family with Pettigrew in his animagus form in a Daily Prophet article. Sirius then escaped Azkaban to protect Harry, using his Animagus form and weight loss to his advantage, becoming the only person to escape Azkaban unaided. He was able to successfully enter Hogwarts on two separate occasions and escaped recapture both times, even though the highly skilled Hogwarts professors and the Dementors were searching for him. His interest in the Daily Prophet crossword and the intelligent questions he asked about the schemes surrounding the Triwizard Tournament confirm his incisive intelligence. * Duelling: Sirius fought with the Order of the Phoenix in the First Wizarding War and survived. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he defeated an unnamed Death Eater and fought the extremely deadly Antonin Dolohov to a standstill until Harry intervened and knocked out Dolohov. He also held his own against his cousin, Bellatrix, who was Voldemort's most powerful Death Eater, though his recklessness led to his death at her hands. * Physical Combat Skills: During his school years, Sirius and James used their respective Animagus forms to physically keep Remus in check while he was a werewolf. As demonstrated by his attack on Wormtail, Sirius possessed a dog's swift speed in his Animagus form, which allowed him to get the jump on his opponents before resuming his human form. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he infused physical combat into his duelling style by ramming Dolohov with his shoulder and punching Malfoy in the face. * Occlumency (possibly): Though it was never outright stated or confirmed, it is likely that Sirius was an accomplished Occlumens. He was confident that he could conceal the change in Secret Keepers from Voldemort, who was a formidably skilled Legilimens, and while in Grimmauld Place, he had a silent conversation with Remus Lupin while the two maintained eye contact for a lengthy period of time. * Indomitable Will: Sirius was able to resist the Dementors' effects in Azkaban for twelve years and retained his sanity by focusing on his innocence and transforming into his Animagus form when necessary. * Driving Skills: Sirius was a very capable motorcyclist, able to maintain stability with a passenger riding pillion while duelling three pursuers on broomsticks and evading a Muggle police car. Sirius' driving was certainly above average, if not at peak levels, as very few professional stunt cyclists would be capable of a similar feat. * Mechanical Aptitude: Sirius modified a motorbike to be able to fly (among other possible modifications he made) and maintained it for around four years. Relationships Family : "I hated the lot of them: my parents with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them... They thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having pure-bloods in charge." : —Sirius alienation in regards to his family The nature of Sirius' relationship with his family during his early childhood is unknown, but at the age of eleven, he earned the severe disappointment and disapproval of his family by being Sorted into Gryffindor house at Hogwarts. Sirius, in turn, became increasingly rebellious, flaunting his house affiliation and disdain for his family's pure-blood values. His relationships with his mother and cousin Bellatrix became particularly antagonistic; Walburga disowned Sirius when he left home at the age of sixteen, burned his name off the family tree, and even treated her brother, Alphard, to the same punishment simply for leaving money to his nephew. Little is known about Sirius' relationship with his younger brother, Regulus, as he never spoke about it. It was revealed, however, that Sirius had wished that Regulus had not been foolish enough to go with what their parents told him to do, and was rather upset with losing his little brother to the Death Eaters at such a young and promising age. It can be theorised that he would have been comforted if he had known that his brother had died defying Voldemort. Sirius later claimed to have "hated the whole lot of them," referring to his family, aside from his cousin Andromeda, who also rejected the notion of blood purity and married a Muggle-born wizard. After his escape from Azkaban, Sirius became friendly with his estranged sister, Aquila, who was the same age as his godson, as well as his cousin Andromeda's daughter, Nymphadora Tonks, a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix. It can also be assumed that he at least had a more healthy relationship with his uncle Alphard than most of his family considering he left some inheritance for Sirius. Kreacher Kreacher was the house-elf of the Black family for years. Kreacher mimicked the family's pure-blood supremacist values, believing he should only serve pure-blood wizards; as such, he accused Sirius of being a "blood-traitor" and "breaking his mother's heart." Sirius, on his part, did not care at all about Kreacher, as he saw too much of the family he loathed in the utterly unpleasant and bad-natured house-elf, and treated him, in Dumbledore's terms, as "a servant unworthy of much interest or notice". Marauders Though he became increasingly estranged from his own family, Sirius gained three good friends who were in Gryffindor with him: James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The group was very popular and loved to play pranks. When they discovered that Remus was a werewolf, instead of ostracising him as many would have, they endeavoured to become Animagi in order to keep him company during his monthly transformations. Together, this group created the Marauder's Map. When Sirius ran away from home at age sixteen, James' family took him in. After graduating from Hogwarts, the group of friends joined the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius was James' best man at his wedding to Lily Evans, and the godfather to their son. At some point during the First Wizarding War, Sirius came to distrust Remus, suspecting that he might be a spy. Thus, he did not reveal to Remus that he decided not to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper when they became targets of Lord Voldemort, instead giving the job to Peter, who was less likely to be suspected of holding the secret. This turned out to be a fatal mistake that Sirius regretted for the rest of his life, as Peter betrayed them all. The tragic deaths of James and Lily was a cruel brutal blow to him, as he would have willingly died for them, and confessed that he desperately missed his best friend everyday. He was sent to Azkaban for Peter's crimes, and Remus initially believed that he was guilty. After he escaped from prison in 1993, he told Remus the truth and, together, they planned to kill Peter for his treachery, though they were stopped by Harry. Afterwards, the two reclaimed their friendship, but it was tragically cut short by Sirius' death two years later. The ending of the three Marauders who had stayed true to their friendship to the very end — James, Sirius, and Remus — was bittersweet: though they all lost their lives to the two wizarding wars, it can be theorised that they were reunited in death, never to be parted again, as seen when Harry summoned the three of them with the Resurrection Stone. However, all respect for Peter was lost, as his betrayal was what led to such a breakdown. Etymology The name "Sirius Black" is a play on his Animagus form of a black dog since the star Sirius is known as the Dog Star and is the brightest star in Canis Major, the Great Dog constellation. Sirius is derived from the Ancient Greek Σείριος, Seirios, meaning "glowing" or "scorcher." In Greek mythology, it is Orion's dog. In Arabic, the star is known as al-shira, "the leader," and in Scandinavia, it has been referred to as Lokabrenna, meaning "Loki's torch." Loki was a trickster god in Norse mythology, a possible allusion to Sirius' days of mischief-making as one of the Marauders. His full name is an oxymoron of sorts, as his first name, "Sirius" is referring to the brightest star in the night sky, and his last name, "Black," is referring to the darkest colour, which is the result of the absence of light. Padfoot refers to a spectral Hellhound (Most commonly known as Black Shuck) with glowing red eyes that haunts the moors around Leeds, in Northern England. Its presence is announced by soft, padding footfalls that may be accompanied by the rattle of chains or a fierce roaring as the beast draws closer to its intended victim. It's one of many "black dog" myths and is the likely source for Sirius' nickname. Black hounds also appear on the Black family crest. 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